You’re only human
| |

You’re only human

What follows is an excerpt of a conversation I had with Kelly Kapic, Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College. He is the author of the recent book, You’re Only Human, about “how your limits reflect God’s design and why that’s good news.” Schuurman: Kelly, what were some of the motivations for you to write…

When science seems like Magic
|

When science seems like Magic

In December 1903 (only an incredible 120 years ago) the Wright brothers had their first powered flight, traveling 37 metres. By the fourth flight they reached 260 metres and lasted just under a minute in the air. Today a Boeing 787-8 is fifty-seven metres long and can reliably fly for more than 13,500 kilometers carrying…

Chatting with ChatGPT
|

Chatting with ChatGPT

Nearly 20 years ago, when I was completing a PhD in computer vision, I was drawn to an AI technique called “machine learning” for recognizing different images. I recall being astounded at the profound elegance of “training” a computer with example images and then observing how well it could identify new images. My early experiences…

The sun in the night
|

The sun in the night

Nigeria has the capacity to export two million barrels of oil per day, the highest export rate of any African nation. Some of these fossil fuels end up in Canada. In 2021, Canada bought 2.1 billion dollars of Nigerian products including mineral fuels and oils, cocoa, rubber and lead. Yet despite Nigeria’s wealth of non-renewable…

Rich reflections for our tech-saturated world
| |

Rich reflections for our tech-saturated world

In the mid-90s, students studying engineering at Dordt College (now Dordt University) took three semesters of physics using a textbook authored by David Halliday, Robert Resnick and Jearl Walker. As one of those students, I loved how each chapter started with a puzzling question that drew me into engaging the material, like “What size is…

Are we saving lives or saving money?
|

Are we saving lives or saving money?

Allen Plug is a Calvin University-trained Ontologist working for Cycorp, a company that has developed an artificially intelligent hospital advisor. Plug knows how to talk to robots, or – to be more precise – he is an expert in semantic knowledge representation. He’s also Canadian and has lived in Saskatchewan, B.C. and Ontario. Do you…

Finding the fakes
|

Finding the fakes

“Computers: Are they conquering our world?” That was the title of an article published in Christian Courier (CC) more than 40 years ago. “The possibilities for manipulation of people,” columnist and labour expert Harry Antonides wrote in 1982, “by controlling and slanting information and news via the new systems of communication are staggering.” He was…

Clean fusion?
|

Clean fusion?

In mid-December, scientists for the first time reported a successful nuclear fusion experiment that produced more energy than made it happen. A friend who is a physics professor at the University of Waterloo was bubbling with excitement when he shared its implications with me. Ever since I was in high school, about 60 years ago,…

The robots are coming
|

The robots are coming

Could you tell if this editorial was written by a robot? I started asking this question in mid-December right around the time my husband, Jakob was spending his evenings talking to something (someone?) who wasn’t human at all. He had discovered ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI, a company co-founded by Elon Musk….

Solving murder with DNA
|

Solving murder with DNA

In late November, many Canadian newspapers reported that police had solved two 39-year-old murder cases using new genetic technology. The technology led to a single suspect who was not initially a person of interest. Further genetic confirmation (using a court-issued DNA warrant) led to the arrest of the individual, who remains only a suspect until…

Human Neurons, Rat Brains
|

Human Neurons, Rat Brains

What does it mean to be made in the image of God? New research on human brain neurons implanted in rats forces us to ask this question. The cells of adult humans can be reprogrammed to act as stem cells, and stem cells can then become any of the different cell types found throughout our…

Science, Calvinism and Mysticism
|

Science, Calvinism and Mysticism

I grew up in the Canadian CRC community in Montreal. There, in Sunday school and catechism classes, I learned how to understand God’s love and care for his creation, for children like me, and for the church. This education was a blessing. I was given a framework for my faith – creation, fall and redemption…